Sequential Drone Attacks Double the Brutality

The shame about being an American in which thoughtful Americans have been awash, especially during the Bush years, hit another new low with a military tactic that Glenn Greenwald describes at Salon on February 5.

In a just-released, richly documented report, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, on behalf of the Sunday Times, documents that this is exactly what the U.S. is doing — and worse: The CIA’s drone campaign in Pakistan has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to help rescue victims or were attending funerals , an investigation by the Bureau for the Sunday Times has revealed. …

A three month investigation including eye witness reports has found evidence that at least 50 civilians were killed in follow-up strikes when they had gone to help victims. More than 20 civilians have also been attacked in deliberate strikes on funerals and mourners. The tactics have been condemned by leading legal experts.

… recall the worst part of the Baghdad attack video released by WikiLeaks: that the Apache helicopter first fired on the group containing Reuters journalists, then fired again on the people who arrived to help wounded.

Also, of course, suicide bombers were regularly dispatched in similar sequential patterns in Iraq and by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. When Hamas engaged in this diabolical practice, Homeland Security, Greenwald writes, dubbed it the “double tap.” In other words, it’s a tried and true terrorist technique.

As during the Bush years, the Obama administration seems to be doing its level best to obliterate the distinction between terrorism and counterterrorism. Guess the moral high ground is shrouded in mist and clouds. Out of sight, out of mind: no one wants to occupy it any more.

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